


Persona: Owl House Book 1

by TiredHorse



Series: The Owl House Persona series [1]
Category: Persona Series, The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Explicit Language, F/F, Found Family, I Tried, The Velvet Room (Persona Series), Underage Drinking, and art, angst maybe, because of the kingsgame, dialogue heavy sometimes descriptive heavy other, music as well, no one asked for this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-26 04:35:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30100392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiredHorse/pseuds/TiredHorse
Summary: Luz won a scholarship and is now on her way to the boiling isle, she encounters a strange man in her dreams warning her about an upcoming mystery and disaster that she will be apart of.A new story featuring the Owl House and the Persona Series
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: The Owl House Persona series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2214834
Comments: 19
Kudos: 19





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This plagued my thoughts for a good long damn while and I wanted to get this out of my system

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta'd by sir Skullian

Her eyes fluttered open, stretching her arms and legs out as she smacked her lips, wiping the drool from her mouth and crust from her eyes. 

“Huh? Where...?” She began to speak as she took in her surroundings, almost jolting awake as she realized she was no longer seated comfortably in her seat on a plane, but was instead sitting comfortably on a plush dark blue leather couch. In fact, the whole room she was in radiated with blue, the varying hues ranging from royal blue to dark indigo and everything in between. Violently blue one would say.

The room itself looked to be one of a curio shop mixed with an old cathedral library. Knickknacks and baubles with small price tags on them were strewn throughout the room accompanied by a wide menagerie of book piles, some stacked neatly and others dog piled on top of each other. All the while she thought she could hear [operatic singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVAp5UDnsPI), it was melancholic and passionate and soothing. 

As she continued to gaze around the room, her eyes finally settled at what was in front of her. Sitting before her was a man, a short man in a suit with a long nose that came to a fine point what seemed to be a foot from his face. A comical body, bald head with tufts of hair poking out the back of his head, long spider-like limbs and big bulging eyes. This man sat behind a small coffee table, on top of an equally comfortable looking blue leather sofa, flashing her what she assumed he thought was a friendly sort of smile, but came off as more of a malicious Cheshire grin.

Before she could tell off this creep or even so much as take in a breath of air, the man chuckled, as if thinking of a personal joke. “Welcome to the Velvet Room,” he said with a wave of his hand. “My name is Igor, and I am _delighted_ to make your acquaintance.” 

Igor did not address the little boy who stood next to him. The boy wore a blue overcoat and black shorts underneath and long white socks that almost hit the knee with black buckle shoes on his feet. The boy also had a tiny curved beak like nose, bright yellow eyes that seemed to watch her playfully like he had a secret to tell her and a troublemaker’s smile to match. Luz was about to open her mouth to speak her mind to this creep before she was interrupted by Igor again. 

“It seems that you have an intriguing destiny,” Igor chuckled playfully again. “This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…” 

So she was dreaming, she thought to herself as she folded her arms in contempt as the man continued. “It is a room with only those who are bound by ‘contract’ may enter…” 

There was another brief pause so that she could process what this fool was suggesting. A contract? What contract would she have made to be kidnapped by this man? No wait...she was dreaming, wasn’t she? This was all a dream.

Igor continued speaking, never once losing the cheerfulness in his voice or the increasingly creepy smile on his face. “It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future.” Fate huh? “Now then,” Igor lifted his leg and crossed it on top of the other letting it sway gently as he spoke, “why don’t you introduce yourself.” 

She shook her head and sighed. She gave Igor a sceptical look before giving a shrug and scratched the back of her head. “It's all a dream anyways, so why not? Name is Luz Noceda.”

“Hm, I see.” He said contemplatively. Luz didn’t have time to think about what he could have possibly been thinking about when she gave him her name, because he was already pulling out a deck of cards from his coat pocket. “Now, let’s look into your future, shall we?” 

“My future? What’s a game of poker going to do?” She questioned leaning forward as he shuffled the cards. 

He gave a small chuckle as he heard an amusing anecdote, “Fortune telling...Do you believe in it?” Luz nodded, she always had an affiliation with the occult. His smile grew wider than Luz thought possible. “Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different.” He let out another chuckle that Luz was starting to find as creepy as the smile that it passed through. “Life follows the same principles, doesn’t it?” Luz snorted in his direction and yet still had wide curious eyes as he set the deck on the table and motioned his hand towards them. “Choose a card and place it on the table.” 

What the hell? Fine...she might as well humor this old man. She always wanted her fortune read, even if it was in a dream world. Luz picked the top card and placed it face down on the table, before sitting back and allowing Igor to flip it for her. “Ah, the Tower in the upright position. It represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent.” 

Great, she flopped back into the couch dejected. Catastrophe could mean anything, a world ending threat, or her anxieties about not fitting in to the new school she was going to. Both were pretty equal in her book. “Pick one last card.” Igor motioned for her to the deck and reluctantly picked it and placed it on the table face down for Igor. 

Flipping the card, Igor exclaimed. “The Moon, in the upright position.” Luz leaned forward again, despite the bad news the other card held, maybe this one would bring her goodluck? Either way she was mesmerized by it. “This card represents ‘Hesitation’ and ‘Mystery’... Very interesting.”

Luz placed her hands on her face, dragging them with an exuberant sigh, “Great! Now even my _dreams_ are giving me anxiety.” 

She rubbed her face as she glared at the old man in front of her. Luz knew what the ‘Hesitation’ probably was, and the ‘Mystery.’ Well, where she was going was of course going to be mysterious. She thought Igor was finished spouting his cryptic wisdom, but was surprised when he spoke once more. “It seems you’ll encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed on you.”

Luz groaned angrily at him. “Stop giving me more anxiety.” She had had enough of this old man and wanted to leave, so she stood up and began pacing around the room, but after a thorough search and much to her dismay, no exit could be found. Luz banged her head against the wall, and was surprised that it hurt. In dreams, you aren’t supposed to get hurt. Looking around confused, feeling true fear boil up inside her, the young boy tugged on the hem of her jacket, motioning for her to come back and sit. With no other option immediately springing to mind, she took the boy’s hand and sat back down on the couch, cautiously taking the freshly made tea the boy handed to her.

As she took her first sips of the tea, Igor continued. “In the coming days, you will enter a contract of sorts, after which you will return here.” Igor motioned around the room again, before placing his elbow on his knee and chin on the back of his hand, resting it there. “This coming year is a turning point in your destiny. If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost.” He reached over and grabbed a cup of tea the boy was offering to him. “But don’t worry, my duty is to provide assistance, to ensure that does not happen.” 

Great, some small comfort. Luz rolled her eyes and sipped her tea. “So...Thanks for that Igor.” She really wanted to wake up now. “Who’s the kid?” She motioned towards the small boy.

“Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you.” He turned his face towards the boy, placing his free hand on top of this boy’s head. “This is Hooty. He is a resident of this place, like myself.” 

_“Hi Luz~”_ The boy spoke, and Luz never heard anyone speak in italics before, but it did establish one thing about him for sure; This boy was one hundred percent creepier than this old man. _“My name is Hooty! Hoot hoot!”_ He gave a little bow. _“And I~ am here to accompany you through your journey. Hoot.”_ Her skin crawled every time he spoke. 

Igor turned to face her again, the same Cheshire grin remaining throughout her stay in this ‘Velvet Room’. “We shall tend to the details another time.” He spoke softly as Luz felt her eyes growing heavy, letting out a yawn. She leaned back into the couch, closing her eyes hearing Igor’s voice finish off with. “Until then, farewell…”

_~~~ A few hours earlier ~~~_

“Do you have everything you need, mija?” Camilla asked, squeezing her daughter’s hand tightly, not wanting to let her only child go. 

The two women stood outside the check in terminal of the airport, people bustling to check in to get to their terminal on time for their flight. A few cars honked at them to speed up so they could take their place so they could unload. The general atmosphere was hectic, chaotic, and Luz felt surprisingly relaxed within that chaos.

Luz nodded as she took her luggage out of the car. It was a single suitcase, old and tattered with drawings of wizards and dinosaurs and a few fading Azura stickers scattered around the case. “Si Mami.” Luz smiled, “I have everything I need. Toiletries, my books, some extra clothes, my charger and my phone.” She held her phone showing that it was on full battery. “And my laptop.” She motioned towards the laptop bag hanging off her shoulder. 

Her mother looked at her with sadden, worried eyes. “Okay,” She kissed Luz’s forehead. “Text me when you get on the plane, and text-” 

“Text you when I land.” She smiled tenderly at her mother. “I’ll be fine, I promise.” She tried to hide her worries and her own anxieties by giving her mom a big smile.

“Okay mija,” Camilla placed a hand on her daughter’s cheek and gave it a light pat. “Eda will be waiting for you when you land.” She gave another pat on Luz’s face, tears welding up in her eyes. “Oh mija, dejando a su madre en su primer viaje.” She hugged Luz tightly, not wanting to let go.   
  


Luz chuckled, tears also building up in her eyes. “I’ll be back, te quiero, mami.” She pulled away, waving goodbye to her mother as she dashed inside.

It was relatively calm inside the airport despite the hecticness of the outside drop off. A few people scattered about and more family members saying goodbye to one another as she made her way through the check in process.

After the initial check in was done and as she was going through TSA, she arrived right on time for the boarding process. “Thank you for choosing DTAH Airlines, this will be your sixteen hour non stop flight to the Bonesborough, Boiling Isles. I am...” 

The flight attendant carried on with her name and the on flight instructions and safety. Luz, having texted her mother prior to boarding, reread the brochure for the Boiling Isles and the brochure for Hexside excitedly. Even though she read them to the point of wear and tear, it still fascinated her. Luz thought back on how she was lucky to have won a scholarship to Hexside as they were initiating a new program to gather more students into their prodigious school. 

“Sixteen hours,” Luz yawned, laying back in her chair as the plane jets roared to life and began pulling out of the terminal. “Might as well get a head start on sleep so i’m not jet lagged when i get there.”

_~~~ About Sixteen Hours later ~~~_

Luz jumped in her seat as the flight attendant shook her arm. “Miss, you need to unboard now so we can clean the cabin.”

“Oh, yes, I'm so sorry.” Luz gripped her head, wondering if what she just had was a dream. She figured it was. Groggy from being forced awake, she grabbed her carry on and left the plane, trying to recall the man’s face and name from her dream. 

As she walked down the long halls of the Boiling Isle’s Airport, barters from the airline stores trying to get the passengers’ attention to buy their wares. An ‘ I heart Boiling Isles’ shirt caught her attention for a moment, and as Luz chuckled she considered getting it for her mom. 

Oh crap her mom. Luz pulled out her phone and began texting her mom, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black shadow. She stopped to look at what that shadow was, but when she stopped, all the passengers’ stopped. Or rather, they all ceased motion, many of them either on their phone midwalk or gathered at food stands in the courts, everything around her looking like it was a still shot from a camera. People were frozen in time all around her, and yet Luz could still move freely. She looked towards the shadow, able to see that it was about as tall as her and was too distant to make out any defining details, except for the piercing yellow eyes and black tendrils that wrapped around itself. “Freaky…” Luz breathed out. 

And in the blink of an eye, it was gone and the world returned to its motion. “Weird…Ah!” Luz fell backwards as someone had bumped into her.

“I am terribly sorry,” A voice spoke out, a hand reaching out to help her up. Luz stared up at the figure who bumped into her and saw a man with slicked back grey hair and piercing icy blue eyes. She was too mesmerized by his eyes to see any other distinguishing features. Subconsciously she reached out and grabbed his hand, using it to help herself up. “You should learn to be more careful, my dear.”

“Y-yeah,” Luz was hesitant at first, there was something about him that was overwhelmingly intimidating. As she watched the man walk away a sharp ping ran through her head, causing her to wince in pain.

“Hey Kiddo!” A familiar voice shouted. Shaking her head, Luz turned to see a tall woman holding a sign with Luz’s name on it. The woman looked to be in her 40s but had long wild gray hair that stretched down her back, sporting a red biker jacket over a white t-shirt that had seen better days. 

“Eda!” Luz exclaimed excitedly and without thinking about it twice, she jumped into Eda’s arms and wrapped her in a hug. 

Eda chuckled as she ruffled up the girl’s hair. “Missed me that much kid?”

  
  


——

  
  


Luz stared out the window of the station wagon Eda drove; it was banged up on the outside and even worse on the inside, torn seats and smelled of lingering cigarette smoke. Sounds of Eda’s smooth jazz mixtape that her mother got Eda for her birthday played on the cassette radio. It was all too familiar and made her nostalgic for home, even though she left it not 24 hours ago. 

Luz watched as the city of Bonesborough passed them by. She had heard stories of this place from Eda when she came to visit them. Stories of how the isles were built on a fallen god, how its bones jutted out from the ground like skyscrapers of any concrete jungle. Luz was surprised to see what Eda had said was true. 

Instead of the drab greys and browns of what a normal city would have, it had a distinctly vibrant, almost otherworldly look and charm to it. Sure it had some browns and greys, but it was out weighted by the constant changes of colors of reds, purples, and greens. What also stood out to Luz was how instead of the modern city design it was modeled after old medieval gothic design, with stone gargoyles and other various monsters littered throughout the architecture of the city. And to top it off, a monolithic cathedral sat in the center of the city, its stained glass window appearing like an eye watching over the city itself.

“Amazing…” Luz whispered to herself as she eyed the view.

“Yeah, that’s the Boiling Isles for you.” Eda smiled at Luz as they pulled up to a small two story house that resided just on the outskirts of the city, but just before entering the dense forest that had surrounded the city proper. 

It was humble in its make, a wooden sign hanging out front in the shape of an owl that swung with the gentle winds. 

“Welcome home kiddo.” 


	2. First day of school

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of school, nothing can go wrong! ... Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for yall's comments it really helped me getting through writing this chapter and keeping up with it. I have a beta now and we edited the last chapter
> 
> here is a secret, some underlined words contain music ;3 cant have a persona game with out music to feel the experience.
> 
> also taking a break after writing this chapter

_A fog washes around her, thick and viscous. She felt like she was drowning, pressure building up in her lungs and yet still being able to breathe like normal. Luz took a step forward, hitting the tile underneath her causing a cascade of ripples to flow from it. She took another step and more ripples reproduced. With each step she took, she could feel her body sink into the ground. She wanted her legs to stop moving, begging them to cease. And yet they kept moving._

_When her body was halfway under the sea of tiles she saw a figure standing, it had glowing yellow eyes and its body as black as the void with black tendrils wrapping around itself. She gazed at the figure in anger. “I’m sick of you!” She spat now wading through the tiles, still sinking as she moved closer to figure. “Who are you!” Luz shouted in fury. “Why do you keep haunting me! Who are you!”_

_“I am thou, thou art I.”_

[ Early morning ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvlNy8CdlIY)

A cool breeze blew through the drafty old attic, stirring Luz from her slumber. It was the third time she had that dream, and with a heavy groan she got up out of bed and stepped onto the cold wooden floor of the attic.

It had been a few days since she had arrived in the Boiling Isles, and it still took her a while to register she was no longer home. The vast empty space of the attic was incredibly different from her room back home, which was, as her mother might say, artistically disorganized. Posters were strung up on the walls, featuring various anime and bands she liked, clothes littering the floor or on the bed. 

But here, she was given a small drawer to put her clothes in, a full sized bed, which was bigger than the single bed she had back home, a few boxes that were filled with coffee beans, a couch and finally a desk to study at for school.

Speaking of school, today was the first day! This also threw off Luz as it surprised her that Hexside didn’t go with the school system she was used to. Much more used to the idea of school starting in August, but as the saying goes...when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Or something like that.

After a quick shower, she raced down the stairs and found herself in a small diner that also served as a small gift shop. A long time ago, Eda had renovated her house to a diner in front of the house, while everything else was in the back. The diner itself, while Eda was there, operated at all hours, serving up freshly made coffee or a nice warm meal. It got its name, The Owl House, from all the owl parfinallia that Eda had collected over the years. She even went as far as owning a small barn owlet, who was lovingly named Owlbert by the regular patrons. 

“Eda! I’m heading out!” Luz called out as she was still putting on her uniform for Hexside. Another thing she wasn’t used to. She was used to wearing any style she wanted back at her old school, but now having to settle for a pressed blue and yellow plaid skirt that hangs just below the knees, black tights, a royal blue blazer with the school’s emblem resting on the right lapel...it took a bit of getting used to.

“Hey, hold up just a moment there, kiddo,” Eda waved towards Luz as she emerged from the diner kitchen. “You still got time, so why not eat some breakfast? Or at the very least take some coffee to go!” Eda was carrying a plate of scrambled eggs with two slices of bacon and a slice of toast, Owlbert resting half asleep on Eda’s shoulder. 

“Thanks Eda.” Luz smiled softly as she sat down on the counter and began eating the food. 

“Nervous kid?” Eda asked, breaking off a piece of Luz’s bacon and feeding it to Owlbert. 

That was an understatement; Luz was beyond nervous. She wanted to make a good impression on her classmates and peers, trying to break away from the labelled ‘that Noceda kid’, or ‘That weird girl’ that had attached itself to her like a moth to a flame. “Eh, I’ll be fine. Nothing to worry about here!” She failed to act calm, Eda seeing through her attempt quite clearly, but Eda let it go and simply smiled at her. 

“I’m sure you will be Luz, now hurry up and eat.” Eda patted Luz’s shoulder before returning to the kitchen, leaving Owlbert to watch over Luz, nuzzling against Luz’s hand, “Oh and Luz?”

“Yeah Eda?”

“Knock ‘em dead.” She gave Luz a wink and smile, her golden tooth shiny as she did.

\---

Morning

Luz sat quietly in Bump’s spacious and yet somehow still claustrophobic office. A few filing cabinets stood in the corner, probably containing the records of every student that passed through these halls. Picture frames of Bump in his youth decorated the walls, and a painted frame of the man himself stood out in the center of them all. Each wall was surrounded by windows allowing Bump to view the school from the safety of his office, with light shining through the windows and illuminating everything in a calming pink and orange glow as it was still far more early than any normal person would get up at. Luz sat in front of his desk waiting for the man to respond as he was nose deep in her file. 

The man’s full name was Principal Hieronymus Bump. To Luz he looked to be about anywhere between the ages of anywhere between eighty and a hundred and twenty. In reality, Bump was actually fifty four, but the years were not kind to him as wrinkles crept over his pursed lips, his cheeks beginning to sag like the jowls of a bulldog. He wore a black robe with burnt yellow shoulder pads stitched on top of them, a blue ceremonial scarf draped over said shoulders and a cowl that covered most of his face. 

“Miss Noceda.” Bump began to speak, it was a soft tone as to not discourage Luz but still felt like it commanded authority. He closed the folder and looked up at her with soft eyes and an even softer smile. “I would like to be the first to welcome you. You see, I expect great things from you, it was no meer luck that got you into Hexside.”

“What do you mean, sir?” Luz questioned, leaning forward into her seat.

“What I mean is that I saw potential in you.” He folded his hands in front of himself. 

“T-Thank you, sir!” Luz smiled wide, feeling ecstatic. 

Bump then tapped her file, “While there were some things I wouldn’t condone, like- let’s see here.” He reopened her file, “Using snakes as a part of a book report presentation, or using sausage as fake guts for a play.” 

Luz looked away sheepishly.

“You are a hard worker, straight A’s across all your subjects since elementary school. And that my dear, is very impressive; not even our Student Council President has that to boast about.” Bump gave a small chuckle. “Speaking of which, she should be here soon. I will have her escort you to your class.”

A small knock on the door alerted the two and a voice called out. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Ah, Amity! Right on time, come in, come in.” 

The door opened to reveal a girl who was 17 years of age, wearing the same uniform as Luz, but was more accommodating to the girl’s petite frame. Her hair was dyed a mint girl and pulled back out of her eyes into a small ponytail. Her eyes sent Luz into an internal panic. They were a beautiful amber yellow, but those eyes were the same color as those that haunted her dreams of late. Amity began walking towards Principal Bump’s desk.

“I am thou, thou art I.” She whispered towards Amity’s direction of the girl hoping to elicit a response from the girl. To which Amity only raised an eyebrow and gave an annoyed snort in Luz’s direction.

“You wanted something of me, sir?” Amity asked again, sounding a bit more agitated as she attempted to ignore Luz. 

“Yes Amity, this is our new transfer student that had won the contest.” Bump smiled, motioning a hand towards Luz who gave a small wave.

Amity barely glanced at Luz. Luz curled her nose at Amity and wanted to stick her tongue out at Amity for being rude but thought better of it since Bump was there.

“Ahem,” he coughed in his hand to break the tension. “Yes, well, I would like for you to show Miss Noceda to her class and during the free periods show her around the school.” 

“As you wish,” Amity gave a small bow and turned back to the door.   
  


“Ah, hey, wait!” Luz grabbed her stuff and chased after Amity. “Thank you so much for the opportunity Mr. Bump!”

“That’s _Principal_ Bump.” He shouted after them.

The two walked side by side, Amity trying to walk faster to keep ahead of Luz, but Luz did not notice this since she could just keep up with her longer legs. After a few minutes of walking the halls, and after humming to herself, Luz finally spoke up. 

“Sooo Amity.” She bumped into the girl playfully, throwing Amity off kilter a bit. “How long have you been on the Boiling Isles? It's my first time here. Do you live far? I live close by. Can you recommend any cool places to eat? Want to be friends?”

Amity turned and glared at the girl after stopping in front of one of the classroom doors. “I’ve lived here all my life, I don’t live close by. No, I will not recommend any place to you and no, I definitely do not want to be friends with you.” She huffed, folding her arms in front of her chest.

“Ouch, harsh. Just trying to be nice.” She grumbled. 

“Then I’ll just get right to the point. I don’t like you.” Amity admitted before continuing to walk down the fall. 

“What the fuck?” Luz chased after her. “But...you don’t even know me.”

“I don’t need to, and I’m not going to.” Amity gave her a sly smirk as she stopped again at a different classroom door. “This will be your class. And I am leaving, have a classmate show you around school during the free period as I will be busy with something more important.” 

“Good, cause I don’t want your prissy ass guiding me.” She stuck her tongue out at Amity who still gave Luz a smile. 

“A Blight doesn’t lower themselves to that level. I surely hope we do _not_ meet again, Noceda.” And with that she turned around and continued down the hall. 

“Bitch,” Luz mumbled, before putting on a fake smile as she entered her class.

  
  


Lunch

The morning interaction with Amity ate her up inside. She didn’t know what she did to get off on the wrong foot with Amity and honestly Luz didn’t care that Amity disliked her. Nope, not even a little bit. She did want to know _why_ Amity disliked her though. Maybe she could change that.

“Hey,” The bespectacled girl that sat next to her waved at her to get her attention. The girl was a little taller than Luz but had dark curly wavy hair that rested nicely in her shoulders and beautiful hazelnut colored eyes. She wore the same uniform as Luz but was a bit more stalkier. “How are you liking the Boiling Isles?” She asked in a cute meek voice. 

Oh my god she is so cute. Luz gave a small smile and began to speak. “I’m liking it alot!” Her voice sounding a little louder than she wanted. Luz mentally kicked herself for getting flustered. Curse her bisexuality.

The girl looked at her in surprise before giggling, “That’s great. My name’s Willow, do you want to grab lunch with me?”

“Yeah totally,” Luz snapped to attention with a smile grabbing her stuff as she followed Willow out of class.”My name is Luz by the way.” 

The two walked side by side, talking amongst themselves and occasionally laughing at the other’s joke. As they neared the cafeteria Luz spoke up, “Say Willow?”

“Yes?” Willow smiled coming down from a laughing fit. 

“After this, do you mind showing me around? I’m still sorta new to the school and to the Boiling Isles and it would be nice to have a friend show me around.” She was kind of nervous, the way the interaction with Amity went, she was hoping this one would be different.

She gave a warm smile to Luz, “Sure! I don’t mind showing you around- ugh.” She fell against the lockers as someone had forcibly pushed her against it.

“Out of the way loser.” A girl with magenta colored hair snarked as she and a group of other girls walked alongside her. The obvious leader of this little pack was the girl with magenta hair who had tied her hair into a bun with bangs that rested neatly beside her face, shaping it well. The magenta girl laughed as she put her hands in her varsity jacket.

“Who’s that?” Luz asked, helping Willow up.

“That was Boscha,” Willow groaned, rubbing the spot she fell on. “She thinks she runs this school because she’s on the student council and the school’s top athlete.” 

“She’s on the council too?” Luz thought, looking back but Boscha had already disappeared into the crowd along with her little group. “Is everyone on the student council like her?” She asked Willow as they got their food.

“No,” Willow said, giving a saddened sigh, “Skara is actually really sweet and Amelia, well I don’t know much about her to be honest.” She continued, grabbing a premade bento box. 

“What about Amity?” Luz asked, causing Willow to wince and freeze up. Luz started to notice sweat build up on Willow’s forehead and her hand white knuckling the bento box. 

“So, about showing you around.” Willow gave a fake smile deflecting the question. “I can show you around the Boiling Isles after school if you want. It’ll be no trouble, we just need to meet up with a friend first and then we can hit the town.”

Noticing she probably touched a nerve, Luz didn’t press further as to not lose a new friend “S-sure!” She chuckled nervously.

—— 

In the student council room, Amity was pouring over paperwork that needed to get done. Even though it was the first day of school, she wanted to get a head start on her own class work.

She thought back on this morning where she interacted with the new student. Sighing as she rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. Maybe she was too harsh on the new girl. But she overheard what Bump had said and there was...a weirdness to the girl that Amity couldn’t place. She fought tooth and nail to become elected as the president and top student of Hexside and it made her furious thinking that some contest winner could stroll in and take what she worked so hard for. 

Amity grabbed her pencil and began working again. It didn’t matter anymore, she told the girl she never wanted to see her again and what were the chances of seeing the girl again? 

Evening 

The rest of the school passed by like a whirlwind. Luz soon found herself outside the school gates waiting for Willow.

“Hey Luz,” Willow called out to her, walking with a young boy, who was probably about fourteen years of age if Luz had to guess. He wore the Hexside uniform except instead of the plaid yellow and blue skirt, he wore black khaki pants but the tie he wore had the traditional yellow and blue colors that Hexside students had to wear. As they approached, Luz could point out further details of the boy as he had a box cut hairstyle and chocolate brown eyes and a trickster’s smile. 

“Luz, this is Gus. Gus, Luz.” Willow smiled introducing them to each other.

“Hey Gus.” Luz held out her hand and the smaller boy reached out and shook her hand. “So where are we going?”

“You didn’t tell her?” Gus tilted his head toward Willow. 

“I wanted it to be a secret,” Willow smiled mischievously.

Luz looked at the two of them, nervously. “So what didn’t you tell me?”

“You’ll see.” Willow chirped. “We’re going to the Night Market.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I can live up to y'alls expectations 
> 
> Confidants to be revealed as the story goes on. 
> 
> 0 fool ???
> 
> 1 magician ???
> 
> 2 Priestess ??? 
> 
> 3 Empress ???
> 
> 4 Emperor ???
> 
> 5 hierophant ???
> 
> 6 lovers ???
> 
> 7 Chariot ???
> 
> 8 Justice ???
> 
> 9 hermit ???
> 
> 10 Fortune ???
> 
> 11 Strength ???
> 
> 12 hanged man ???
> 
> 13 death ??? 
> 
> 14 Temperance ???
> 
> 15 Devil ????
> 
> 16 Tower ???
> 
> 17 star ???
> 
> 18 moon ??? 
> 
> 19 sun ??? 
> 
> 20 Judgement ???


	3. The Night Market

The Market was located just below the base of the massive cathedral, with not thousands but infinite number buildings and stalls selling anything that you could imagine, ranging from locally farmed produce to homemade clothes and accessories to even secondhand items like furniture or books. 

The Night Market, however, was not as simple as offering special deals that happened at night in the Market district. No, it was like the preverbal black market of the Boiling Isles, selling illicit items such as weapons, drugs and other... _ services _ . This place was an ever changing rotation of buildings and stalls inside the Market to avoid detection from the authorities, allowing their purveyors and the patrons who frequented them peace of mind in their dirty dealings. Only members know about the newest location of the Night Market, but a lucky few who do stumble upon its location are branded as new members, and are privy to the wares if deemed trustworthy by the Master of the Night Market.  _ Whomever they are. _

Purple hues of the setting sun illuminated the Market around them as they followed Willow, who was leading them in a manner that indicated knowledge over guesswork. “Luz, come on! “ Willow urged as she took a left past a stall that was selling cookbooks and bath bombs. “It's just up ahead.” 

“How is she so  _ fast _ ?” Luz panted as she could barely keep up with Willow. “Woof, I gotta start working out...How does she even know about this place? In fact why are we even going?”

Gus just gave her a shrug as he could easily keep up with the two, flashing Luz a mischievous smile. “I don’t know but don’t you at least want to know what it’s like? Just think of it like you’re on an expedition and your inquiring mind is in pursuit of forbidden knowledge.”

Luz gave him a smirk as they finally caught up with Willow, who was standing in front of a rather inconspicuous building. The building looked to be centuries old, weathered and worn outer brick layer with a dilapidated caved in roof, like it should have been condemned years ago. Luz could have sworn she heard faint, yet haunting, piano music from inside as leaned forward to see a small wooden sign hung on the equally worn door that read. 

[ _ Those who seek shelter from the boiling rain can find solace in the Night _ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLmlP46cFKU) _. _

“Well  _ that _ doesn’t make any sense,” Luz said after reading the sign. “You sure this is the place?” She asked motioning to the sign that hung from the door. 

Willow had stars in her eyes as she reached for the knob. “I’m sure,” her voice sounded a little desperate but confident all the same. 

When the door opened, they were greeted with a darkened room, the only light provided to them seeping in through a hole in the broken roof, and even then it was barely enough to make sense of their new environment.

The room was surrounded with scrolls, marked as Hexes, Curses, and all manner of other labels along with several bags of mysterious contents that Luz’s imagination ran wild with what could be inside. Guns and weapons were hung on the walls, priced as relatively cheap, some probably fakes given their construction. Other various ‘normal’ items were strewn about as well; paintings of famous artists or clothing with unique designs made by the latest fashion artists, all marked down by half of what it would have originally cost if sold in department stores. It was most definitely stolen. Unique items such as crystal balls, exotics plants and animals, littered the floors of the establishment. 

The three stepped into the establishment, mesmerized by their surroundings, WIllow being particularly giddy when coming face to face with a nightshade bush. Gus was already preoccupied with one of the scrolls from the Hexes and Curses bin. Luz gazed in wonder as she began turning in circles around the store, taking in everything, before stopping as her foot had collided with a key. It was a rather old looking key, that was attached to a necklace, the key itself made of bronze and had two prongs jutting out at the end of it. Standing out in its design was a yellow eye with a serpent-like pupil, and as Luz turned the key the eye felt like it was watching her. 

“Welcome~” A voice rang out, causing Luz to immediately pocket the key in panic and face the voice that came from behind a piano. The trio turned and found a rather small man, who stopped tickling the ivory keys for the moment to greet them. He was a rather rotund man, standing about two and half feet off the ground with a protruding potbelly that was barely covered by a dress shirt and purple vest. He was bald and had a pig shaped nose with glasses that rested just on the edge of his nose that covered his blue eyes. 

“Welcome~” he repeated, doing a little dance of showmanship. “To the Night Market! My name is Sir Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer the Third, but you may call me Tibbles.” He gave a Winnie the Pooh-like giggle as he placed his hands on his belly, invoking images of Santa Claus. The name, along with the appearance of the man almost made Luz laugh, but she held it down quiet well. 

“It seems we have three new faces! What to do, oh what to do?” He eyed the three up and down briefly, clicking his tongue before turning and muttering to himself. “Customers seem to be getting younger and younger, I swear...” 

He let out another giggle before returning his attention to them. “Well, you kids seem like good, honest folk, so I’ll let you become members! Just don’t tell anyone about this, k?” 

“Sure thing sir,” Willow smiled eager to purchase some of the exotic plants.

“Oh goodie~” he clapped his hands excitedly. “Do let me know if you find anything you like~” he smiled before turning back to the piano.

“You have any specials today?” Gus spoke up, kind of curious but not really expecting an answer.

“We have a special deal on weapons today.” TIbbles smirked playfully as he started tickling the piano keys again. “A deal that some people have been just  _ dying _ for!”

Luz looked at the two and shrugged. “I’m, uh...I’m gonna go. I don’t need anything.” 

“You sure, Luz?” Gus asked, surveying the weapon selections. 

“Yeah I’m sure,” Luz said, but ended up picking up a red aluminum bat from a nearby barrel. “Eh, I’ll purchase this. It’s rude to not buy anything I suppose.”

“I’ll buy it for you, just get home safe.” Willow said, patting her shoulder and giving her a smile. “See you in school tomorrow.”

Luz smiled and waved goodbye to the two of them before exiting the store with the bat in hand.”That guy gives me the creeps,” Luz muttered as she trudged through the stalls. It was dark out now, the sun finally setting just over the horizon, settling in the dark purple hue of the night before being illuminated by the street lights above the market. 

The Boiling Isles was beautiful, in every sense of the word. Below the dark Gothic architecture, beneath all the grit and grime, it was fantastic and wonderful… and home. Luz twirled around, gazing up at the street market lights. Most of the vendors had disappeared seemingly into the night, many of them having closed up shop for the day and the bustling sounds from when she first got here had been dulled to a whisper. All she could hear were the whispers of the wind.

She felt a force bump into her, causing her to drop the bat. “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, i was just mesmerized by the lights and-”

“That’s twice we met in these many days with you bumping into me, young lady.” A gruff, yet oddly soothing voice said. “Still have not learned to look where you are going, hmm?.” He picked up the bat for her but Luz looked at the man and tilted her head.

“I’m sorry, but...have we met before?” She glanced at the man before her. He had piercing icy blue eyes, his presence felt like he was towering over her even though he was little more than a foot taller. Short slicked back grey hair and was surprisingly fit for his age. Wearing a simple cape and cowl over normal everyday clothes. He smiled at her; it was warm, but held a hint of hostility. 

“Never you mind,” he held the bat out for her and Luz nervously took it back. “Just pay attention to where you are going. Kiki?” He straightened his posture and began talking to the lady beside him.

“Yes, sir.” The woman replied. She had dull brown eyes with her right eye covered by the woman’s bangs even though she did her hair up in a bun. She was about as tall as Luz, wearing a white lab coat over what appeared to be formal evening wear. Luz had wondered if they were on a date.

“Come along, we mustn’t be late for our meeting with the Warden.” His voice was stern and strict with his assistant, but turned and gave a warm smile to Luz. “And you, head on home okay? It's dangerous on the Boiling Isles at night.” He began walking away, with an air of elegance and authority with each step he took.

“R-right.” Luz whispered. 

Night

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Eda shouted, arms folded in front of her chest and glaring down at Luz. She glanced up at the owl clock on the wall.

“8:05?” Luz replied, knowing full well that she shouldn’t be smart with Eda about this. 

“Watch it kid, you may be charming but it will only get you so far.” She hissed, before sighing sadly and sitting next to Luz on Luz’s bed. “I'm just worried about you kiddo...You only just got here and I’d hate to lose my kid on the first day. It’d make me look bad.” 

“You won’t lose me, Eda.” Luz gave her a reassuring smile.

Eda gave her a playful smirk and a cocked eyebrow before frowning again. “You’d be surprised Luz, these Isles…” She paused for a moment looking down at her hands. “These Isles have a way of taking a lot from you.” Luz wrapped her arms around Eda who held Luz close. “You and your mother were the best things that have happened to me in recent years. What would she do if i lost you?”

“Probably kick your ass,” Luz chuckled, as she held Eda close, burying her face in the crook of Eda’s neck. Eda wrapped a hand around Luz's head, running her fingers through Luz’s hair. 

Eda scoffed but chuckled alongside Luz. “I'm not saying don’t get into trouble...Well, I  _ should _ say don’t get into trouble because your mother will kill me if she finds out I let you get arrested. But go have fun, cause a bit of youthful mischief and raise some hell. But remember; if you need bail, I’m not home.”

“Okay.” Luz let go of Eda with a chuckle, who in return released Luz from her embrace. It was bordering on awkward, the relationship they were in. Luz knew Eda was dating her mom, that they had been dating for the past two years, and Luz held Eda in high regard as a mother figure. But she still didn’t feel comfortable enough to bring herself to call her “mom.” Eda was Eda, plain and simple. 

“I’m not going to ground you this time, but next time you come home late without texting or calling, you’ll be grounded for a week.” Luz wanted to protest Eda, but thought better of it, she knew Eda was just trying to keep her safe.

“Okay.”

Eda kissed Luz’s forehead. “Goodnight my little owlet.” And with that Eda left, leaving Luz alone in her room. 

‘A busy first day.’ was all Luz could think as she laid back down in bed. As soon as her back hit the mattress, however, she shot up and yelped in surprise, feeling a sharp pain in her side. 

“Ow what the hell?” She reached into her pocket and fetched out the cause of the pain, it was the key with the serpent-like eye. She had forgotten she pocketed the key from the shop; it was surprisingly heavy for something so small. She began absentmindedly tracing the eye of the key with her thumb. 

_ “You shall be the bridge to fix one’s heart.”  _ A small voice rang out in her head, causing her to subconsciously press the eye of the key in. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere a brown oak door appeared in front of her bed, carrying the same serpent-like eye in the middle of the door. “What the fuck!” Luz whispered-yelled falling backward into her bed, kicking and scurrying back until her back hit the wall the bed was propped up against. 

Where did it come from? Why was it here? How the fuck did it get here? All these questions raced into Luz’s mind, but after the initial panic subsided, she stared down at the key and pressed the button again.

The door began to collapse inwards of itself, folding and contorting until finally it became a small brown oak briefcase. The yellow serpent eye still presenting itself proudly in the center of the case itself. 

Luz got off her bed, grabbing the bat she had placed on her desk and gently tapping the briefcase with it. She had winced and readied the bat for an attack in case the briefcase decided to jump up and attack her, and yet it laid motionless on the floor.

She looked down at the key again, pressing the button once more and as if in reverse the case made itself a door. 

“Freaky…” Luz smiled in wonderment, pressing the button a few more times for good measure, laughing as the door became a case, then a door again. All the tension she felt washed away from her body. “I bet this doesn't even lead anywhere.” She commented as she reached for the golden doorknob, turning and opening the door.

The door opened inwards, and at first a flash of bright white light shone through the door before a black and red vortex formed inside. Luz gulped as she stared deep into the vortex, all of her senses screaming at her to not go in, but in the end her curiosity pulled her forward. She reached her hand out first to touch the vortex but her hand slipped right through, as though there were nothing there. 

She pulled her hand back and looked at it. All five fingers were still there, and still very much her fingers. She took a deep breath and stepped on through.

[ ??? ](https://youtu.be/6j51-Ea5-04)

After stepping past the portal she was greeted with a sea of black and red tiles. This setting felt all too familiar to her. The only difference was that there were white cathedral walls with picture frames lining them. She tapped her foot on the tile and didn’t sink. Letting out a sigh of relief she continued forward.

Surrounding her were branching pathways of more tiles leading to dead ends or stairs leading to god knows where. So as she stepped forward, looking around her with wonderment, she had only one thought.

‘Where the hell am I?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular chapter gave me trouble on how to continue so im gonna take a brief haitus to figure it out
> 
> I know these chapters have been world building and character introductions but we are going to get into the mystery and action soon

**Author's Note:**

> now excuse me while i play/watch the entire persona 4 and 5 games to get ideas
> 
> Oh also I would like to commission artists for this fic as well and feature their art in the story as well


End file.
